That entire weekend had been peculiar for Sunny.  She had never been so quiet in her life.  She wasn’t unhappy.  On the contrary, she had a lot to be happy for.  Her boyfriend, her friends, her family, her home, everything she had was a reason to be happy.  But something was on her mind, and it caused her to lose concentration in everything.  Her Mario Kart tournament with Sooyoung last night had resulted in a near whitewash for her for the first time in as long as she could remember.  In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she had lost any game in such a way.  She couldn’t concentrate, no matter what she did.  Work was no more busy than usual.  In fact, at some moments, it was quieter, so that wasn’t bothering her.  Ryan had not called her as much as he used to, but that wasn’t even fazing her at all.  He still came to the diner for lunch, bringing Nathan in tow, so she was still able to speak to him.

It was when Nathan was there that her mind started to work harder.  She recalled the conversation she had with him at the beach.  She remembered how he was on the date, how gentlemanly he was at the party, how much Yuri gushed over him during their relationship.  Or rather, how comparatively little she gushed over him, especially since Siwon had come into her life.  They had been together for only a short time, and yet she was more enamoured with him than she ever was with Nathan.  He seemed like a nice guy too.  Sunny shook her head in disbelief.  No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t see why Yuri would want to leave someone like Nathan.

The last of the customers were clearing away their food from the evening shift and Yuri was cleaning her workstation.  Sunny took a deep breath, straightened her uniform and walked to the bar.

“Yuri?”

The barmaid turned around and smiled sweetly.  “Yes, Sunny?”

“Ca-can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

Sunny hoisted herself up onto the stool and sighed.  “Why did you leave Nathan?”

“Oh come on, that was a long time ago!”

“No, I don’t mean like that,” Sunny quickly reassured her friend.  “Siwon is better for you, I know, but …” she looked around, confused, unable to finish her sentence.

“But what?” Yuri asked quietly.  “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, just … why?”

Yuri sighed and shook her head.  “Nathan wasn’t the one I wanted.  He was a great guy, but he was too controlling for me.  He didn’t give me the freedom I wanted.  You know how he was when it came to the party, right?  He wouldn’t let me go as soon as he found out a stripper was going to be there!  He was afraid I’d run off with him.”

“You kinda did,” Sunny muttered.

“That’s different,” Yuri dismissed her comment.  “He thought I was going to be unfaithful.”

Sunny sighed.

“Look, I don’t know what to say,” Yuri sighed.  “Nathan and I just weren’t suited for each other.  There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“But …” Sunny looked around, trying to piece her words together.  She was right; Siwon was better for Yuri than Nathan could have been.  There was no denying that.

“But what?” Yuri pressed, concerned for her friend.

“He never … he always made sure you could do what you wanted, even if it hurt him.  He never made you feel second best.  He never made you feel like you weren’t good enough.  Right?”

Yuri nodded.  “He was pretty amazing, I’m not going to lie.  And I still care a hell of a lot about him.  He’s happy for me and I’ll be just as happy for him when he finds someone else.  He deserves to be happy.”

“Why didn’t you stay with him?  If he treated you like that … what changed?”

Yuri sighed and rested on the bar.  “I did, I guess.  I saw something I didn’t like and I left.  I felt like I wasn’t enough.  Like I was expected to be the obedient little wife.”  She shook her head.  “That’s not what he wanted from me though, and I over reacted.  I guess it all happened at the wrong time.”

Sunny mused over her friend’s answer.  “If you hadn’t have met Siwon, if you hadn’t have fallen in love with anyone else … would you have stayed with Nathan?”

Yuri thought for a while and shook her head.  “Maybe we would have worked things out, but … I think something else would have come along.  Me not thinking about his feelings would have been a bit of a deal breaker for him, I think.”  She laughed nervously.  “I think I’d have done the same thing with something else again.  And … he deserved better.”

“So … you knew it wouldn’t last?”

Yuri shrugged.  “Something told me we weren’t quite right together.  Like … the stars weren’t quite aligned.”

Sunny looked to the work surface, avoiding her friend’s eyes.

Yuri smiled, sagely.  “I’m glad I left him.  I found the one I love and the one I want to stay with.  If I stayed with Nathan, I would have felt I had to change a lot more than who I went out with.  I’d have to change huge parts of me.  I’d have to act in different ways.  As great as Nathan is – and he is great –“ Yuri took a deep breath, “he wasn’t that great for me to change who I am.  Nobody is.  You should never change who you are for anybody, Sunny,” she patted her arms.  “Nobody has the right to make you change who you are but you.”

Sunny ruminated on this as Yuri walked away.

They say “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”  But they don’t talk about what to do with something that is broken.  She lifted her head and looked to the barmaid, watching her going about her business, cleaning for the end of the day.

They also talk about things being ‘broken beyond repair’, she mused, taking her leave.

 

~~~

 

Nathan walked through the school entrance, take-away coffee in hand, and crossed the school’s reception area.  The weather reports all predicted a storm over the coming days, and it looked like they might be right.  Nathan walked through the seated welcoming area before he was stopped.

“Excuse me,” a woman called, her American English voice crossing the empty area.  Nathan turned around to face her.  Sitting in one of the chairs was a slim blonde, the kind of woman one would expect to find on most California beaches.  “You speak English?” she asked hopefully.

“I certainly do,” he replied, walking over to her.  “Can I help you?”

“You’re British?” she asked, half-swooning.  Nathan nodded. “That’s, like, the iest accent ever,” she complimented.  He smiled and chuckled slightly.  After all these years, he still couldn’t understand everyone’s fascination with the British accent, although he never said anything.  “I’m sorry,” she blushed.  “Do you know if Ryan is  ... does he work here?  Ryan Livingstone?”

“Ryan?”  He held his flattened hand to just above his ear.  “About yay tall, dark hair, incredibly handsome?”

“Yeah, I thought I would surprise him with a visit.  I didn’t know if he was working today.”

“I … think he is, but he’ll be in tutorial right now.  I’ll go and find him for you.”

“Oh, thank you!  I flew out from New York and I’m so jetlagged right now.”

“Don’t worry, you sit there and I’ll go and get him for you.  Can I ask who you are?”

“Oh, sorry.  I’m Rachael,” she introduced, extending her hand to shake his.  “I’m his girlfriend.”

“His … girlfriend?” Nathan gingerly took her hand and politely shook it.

“Yeah.  We’ve been dating for almost three years now.  I hate that he’s so far away, but he loves teaching here.  I can’t exactly tell him to give it all up, can I?”

Nathan smiled politely, whilst disappointment and fury started to ferment.  “I didn’t know he had a girlfriend in the States,” he probed.  “Ryan’s never … he hasn’t spoken about you.”

“Oh,” she replied, looking obviously disheartened.  “Well, he … he probably doesn’t want to mix his work with his personal life, right?”

Nathan sighed, but kept his polite smile.  “I’m sure that’s … something to do with it,” he fudged.  “I … ummm … I think he’s with a student right now.  He’ll be in … in tutorial.”

“That’s fine,” she nodded, understanding.  “Do you know how long he would be?”

“I really don’t,” Nathan shook his head, trying to stall her as much as possible, getting any information that he could from her to prove Ryan’s infidelity, or even disprove.  She may well have been lying through her teeth, but he couldn’t risk Sunny being hurt like this.  He was, however, pertinently aware this was not the right time or place to cause a scene, especially for Rachael.  “I’ll go and find him for you and … let him know you’re … you’re here.”

“Thank you,” she smiled.  “Should I wait here?”

“If you don’t mind.  You’ve already made the journey here, I’d hate for him to … to be busy and …”

Rachael nodded.  “It’s fine, I get it,” she beamed.  “I’ll just wait here for him.”  She returned to her seat, watching Nathan as he walked towards the classrooms.

Nathan could feel his heart breaking for this woman.  She must have been about 24, maybe 25, and she had given three years of her life to this guy, and he was cheating on her with Sunny?  Ryan was being unfaithful to a woman who would gladly fly half-way around the world to surprise him with a visit?  How could he do that to her?  He walked along the corridors to Ryan’s classroom, determined to give the guy a piece of his mind.  As he reached the classroom, he looked through the window.  He could see Ryan wasn’t available; he was, in fact, very busy.  He was leaning over his desk, his back to the door.

With the senior class president underneath him.

Nari, the student tasked with maintaining the high standards of the class was currently on her back with her school skirt bunched around her waist, allowing her teacher to treat her like some common .  Nathan could feel his blood boiling away in anger.  He wanted to burst into the room, to grab Ryan by his throat and hold him against the wall.  And yet, he didn’t.  He didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t do it.  How could Ryan be so callous, so heartless, so thoughtless?  And with Nari.  She was the most respected student in her year group, probably even the entire school.  Teachers praised her, she was part of so many school planning groups, and now she was Ryan’s newest conquest.  Almost automatically, Nathan his heel and started to walk back to the reception area, trying to compose himself.  He couldn’t believe such a prized student would do this of her own volition.  But that would mean Ryan … had he forced her into this?  Had he made her do such a thing against her wishes?  His own classroom was a few doors away, and he had no class for a while, nor did he have any tutorials booked at all this period.  Nathan opened the door and walked to his desk, his mind working overtime to try to comprehend what this guy must be thinking.  As slimy and smarmy as Ryan was, he wasn’t so evil to force a woman to sleep with him against her will.  And, if he was, Nari wasn’t fighting him off as one would expect her to.  He sat and thought.  Ryan was the more attractive of the teachers, and he was the subject of much fantasy talk amongst the female cohort of students that Nathan had occasionally overheard.  Whilst most of the students wanted a Korean boy as a husband, many conceded that Ryan would make a particularly ravishing fling whilst they waited for Mr Right to come along.  Perhaps this was it.  Nari was simply living that fantasy.  Although that only reduced Nathan’s anger slightly; it still left the fact of Ryan being unfaithful to Rachael with Sunny, and also cheating on Sunny with Nari.  He flung his head back and closed his eyes, waiting for the moment to pass.  Minutes seemed to crawl by before he heard a nearby door opening.  He looked to his own door and saw it open, making any noises from the corridor more audible to him.  He walked to the hallway and listened.  He could make out someone muttering, but the conversation wasn’t clear.  Judging from the tone and pitch, he assumed one of the voices was female.  The mutterings stopped and heeled footsteps walked towards him.  He walked back to his desk, trying not to give away that he had been eavesdropping, should it be Nari that walked past.  As the footsteps passed and faded into nothing, Nathan left the classroom and marched to Ryan’s.  Sure enough, the pair had ceased their activities and she had left the room, leaving the door open as she left.  Ryan was at his desk.

“Ryan?” Nathan announced as he walked into the room.

“Nate!” Ryan jumped, shocked that someone else was around.

“You have someone waiting for you in reception.”

“I … I do?”

“Yeah.  A woman named ‘Rachael’.  Blonde, slim, about five foot six,” Nathan held his hand level to his chin to indicate the approximate height of his guest.  “American, says she’s your girlfriend.”

“W… what?”

Nathan nodded.  “I haven’t told her about Sunny.  Thought it might ruin the moment.”

“What’s she doing here?” Ryan rushed to clear his desk in a blind panic.

“Said she wanted to surprise you.”

Ryan took a few deep breaths.  “It … it’s not what you think.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  We … w-w-we … broke up.  We weren’t together long.”

“Three years sounds like a long time to me.”

Ryan shook his head, not once looking to Nathan.  “We met three years ago, but I … I broke up with her before I moved here.  She’s the one with the … the tattoo.”

“Ah.”

“Sh-she …” Ryan calmed down.  “She’s a real … real psycho hose beast.”

“She’s also in reception.”  Ryan shook his head in disbelief.  “If she really isn’t your girlfriend, you need to sort things out.  I haven’t told her about Sunny, so maybe you should.”

“What?”

“Sunny.  Your girlfriend here?”

“Oh god …” Ryan held his head in his hands and pulled at his hair, trying to process hundreds of things at once.  “Please don’t say anything to her about this.  Sunny would kill me if she knew.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.  I mean, Rachael still thinks we’re together.  She … she’s crazy!”

“She flew halfway across the world to surprise you.  Crazy, perhaps, but sounds like she was trying to be romantic.”

“Trust me, she’s anything but romantic.”

Something struck him as very odd about this.  “If you’re not together, Ryan,” he asked pointedly, “why would Sunny be mad at you?  Rachael would be a stalker, which wouldn’t be your fault at all.  In fact, I think it would be illegal, even over here.”

“Because …” Ryan searched for the words he needed.  “Because … she’s not … Sunny doesn’t … I mean, Rachael ….”  He floundered, holding his hands in front of him, desperate for his rationale to form in a way that Nathan could understand and accept.  Not that Nathan would have accepted it as the truth anyway.  Nevertheless, nothing came.  That silence gave Nathan probably every answer to every question he could have asked, but many more that he would never have thought to ask were formed in that same moment.

“Tell you what,” Nathan proposed, providing Ryan with the get-out clause he desperately craved.  “I won’t say anything to her.  I won’t go and tell her anything about this.”

Ryan looked at his colleague and sighed out of relief.

“But,” Nathan folded his arms, “if she asks me, anything at all, I will be honest and I will answer.  And, if she asks why I kept it from her, I will tell her, without hesitation.”  Ryan furrowed his eyebrows.  “Until then … my lips will be sealed.”

“Sealed?  Completely?”

“I will not say a single word to Sunny, Yuri, Tiffany or any of them about Rachael, unless I am directly asked about her,” Nathan answered calmly and precisely, making sure his message was clear.

Ryan nodded, satisfied with Nathan’s proposal.  It was already too much for him to keep such deceit from someone; asking for anything more would be inappropriate.

“Now, Rachael is in reception.  Deal with her.”

“Thanks man,” Ryan smiled, some semblance of relief and his old bravado coming back.  “I knew you were alri-”

“Don’t, ok?” Nathan held up his hand to halt where this would inevitably lead to.  “You deal with this.  She’s waiting for you.  If you’re not together …”

“We’re not.”

“… then make sure she knows.  And make sure Sunny knows too.”  Nathan turned to leave.

“What did you tell her?”

“Sorry?”

“Rachael.  What … what did you say?  Just in case.”

“‘Just in case’?”

“Y-yeah …”

Nathan glared at him.  For someone who had broken up with this Rachael woman, he seemed awfully jumpy.  Although, given his dalliance with Nari, Nathan knew why.  “She asked where you were.  I told her you were in tutorial.  It is what you’re booked in for, right?”

“What?”

“Your tutorial.  For the English exam at the end of term.”

“Oh, y-yeah.  Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nathan seethed.  “Seriously, Ryan.  Don’t.”  Without a second thought, he walked away, leaving the shamed teacher to clean up the mess.